Heavy Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s capital on Thursday killed two renowned university professors, triggering outrage from activists and commentators who drew parallels with the war on Gaza, when scores of academics and writers were killed.
The professors killed have been identified as Dr. Hussein Bazzi, a director of the Faculty of Sciences and Dr. Murtada Srour, one of the country’s leading physics experts.
According to local media, Israel warned people in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, last week, where the Lebanese University is located, to evacuate.
The area has come under intense Israeli bombardment, displacing hundreds of people from their homes since the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 February.
Reports state it was not clear whether the campus was directly targeted, but smoke could be seen rising from what appeared to be the building’s courtyard following the strikes.
The Israeli military’s Arabic language spokeswoman, Ella Waweya, confirmed the killing, saying Sarour was targeted near the university building.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the bombing, which he said targeted the campus, as a crime and a “violation of international laws and norms that prohibit attacks on educational institutions and civilians”.
The killing of the professors has also triggered outrage online, with many decrying it as an example of Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign.
Others highlighted how Israel targeted civilians, including students, children, medical professionals and lecturers in Gaza since 2023, resulting in what has been dubbed as ‘scholasticide’.
“Has Israel run out of its so-called ‘military targets’ that it is now killing professors at a university campus? What next – medics, students, journalists? Is this the Gaza playbook now being exported to Lebanon?” journalist Hala Jaber commented on X.
“We’re seeing the Gaza doctrine in action: targeting and killing professors like Refaat and many others, journalists, civil defence members, and paramedics in plain sight, with impunity. The world let Israel do this over and over and over again. Only rage,” Michelle Eid, a Lebanon-based journalist and editor wrote.
Earlier this month, Lebanese sources said that Dr. Mohammed Rida Fadlallah, the President of USAL University, was also killed by Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Since the attacks on Iran started, Israel has killed at least 634 people in Lebanon, the country’s Disaster Risk Management Unit said.
